Need some poker advice? Ask a librarian

Librarians give the best poker advice

By David McClary

There are two ways to get better at poker. The best is to learn from your mistakes at the table. The cheapest, however, is to learn from the mistakes of others. To do this you need a poker library. It is hard to walk through a bookstore these days and not see a well stocked poker section. I would always encourage you to stop and thumb through the latest poker tome over a seven dollar latte, but at the very core of long term poker success is positive expectation of value. This is why it is hard to beat the collection of books you and others in your community already own at your local public library. Erie county citizens went to great lengths to ensure that the libraries stayed open. Why? Because the Buffalo and Erie County Libraries had 65 different poker titles at last count. There are a few books that I feel every good card player should own, but it would take well over a thousand dollars to buy each book that is worth reading just once. This would be doubly foolish considering many of these books have already been bought with your tax dollars.

If you havenπt read any poker books, then Poker for Dummies is a good place to start. It introduces good fundamentals and is easy to navigate. Donπt worry about the title. If people see you reading it and want to laugh, odds are they are too stubborn to read books that would improve their game. See how much they laugh as you rake in their chips.

Once you have gotten through an introductory work, start working your way through the different authors. Try to read at least one book from the following writers: David Sklansky, Mike Caro, Avery Cardoza, Edwin Silberstang, Doyle Brunson, Tom McEvoy, and Phil Helmuth. All of these authors have their own tips and tricks. They also have all made money playing cards and not just writing about them. All of them can be found in the library system. As you progress, keep in mind there are two reasons for reading these books.

The best reason is that each author will teach you a great deal to improve your own game. From casino card room play to home game skills and even online poker advice, all of these authors will enlighten you with ideas that make you play better. There is a second benefit as well. You are not the only person reading books. Some of your opponents will read them also. The recent avalanche of poker titles have created a market for manuals that create some mechanical play. Some players read only one book and turn into a robot.

While all of the authors on the list above write high quality poker advice, many others do not. There are also many titles by excellent authors that quite simply are not for beginners. Your opponent may be the kind of player that thinks ≥Iπve been playing poker for nine consecutive weeks now. I even took second in that $5 buy-in tournament at the lodge with six other players. Texas Hold åem for Advanced Players by Sklansky and Malmoth is just the book I need take things to the next level.≤

I love these people. I love it even more when they sit at my table. The best part is that, if you pay attention, some people will all but give you the MLA formatted footnotes for the book they just read. When players canπt resist telling you about all the nuances of poker that they are so familiar with, and you can pin down that last book they read, well, they may as well play with their cards turned over.

As fabulous as the library is, there are two books you must read which Erie county doesnπt own. The Theory of Poker by David Sklansky is a classic and well worth ten times its retail price. This book will start making you money the very first time you read it. It is also worth reading more than once, so owning it is a great investment. A second title is Mike Caroπs Book of Poker Tells

This is a book solely devoted to reading opponents and, while not appropriate for the beginner, is a must for anyone looking to move beyond the smallest stakes in any casino card room.

Let me last remind you of positive expectation. I checked my tax bill and it showed a library fee of just over $65. It is easy to say ≥What a rip off!≤ But I have read dozens of poker books from the library; at least one from each author they have. Over the last few years my poker winnings have far outpaced my losses, in large part due to the improvements I have made in my game from these very books. $65 a year is a deal. In fact, each of the last few years I have won just about enough to pay all of my county property taxes. Now thatπs a return on an investment. You can do it too. Just start with a subject search of poker at your local library and the sky is the limit.